Monthly Archives: February 2015

After more than 30 years in the markets, I’ve seen all kinds of new technologies that are supposed to change the world. Most are pumped by little-known companies with overly hyped marketing, aggressive underwriters, and little more than vaporware. To say I’m jaded would be an understatement.

But I ran across something recently that positively made my mouth drop.

Watson the supercomputer is getting its own home in New York City. IBM (IBM) announced on Jan. 9 that it’s creating a separate business unit for the computing system best known for defeating 74-time Jeopardy winner Ken Jennings in 2011.

Source: Wikipedia

While it’s not enough to make me want to run out and buy IBM stock, the news sparked my interest in Big Blue. Watson has....More>>>

The passing of actor James Gandolfini, best known as Tony Soprano in The Sopranos, received a lot of publicity. Not all the publicity was in the entertainment or celebrity media. Financial and legal media pounced on Gandolfini’s will, generating a lot of commentary from lawyers and estate planners, little of it positive.

Investors love stocks that consistently beat the Street without getting ahead of their fundamentals and risking a meltdown. The best stocks offer sustainable market-beating gains, with robust and improving financial metrics that support strong price growth. Does CARBO Ceramics (NYSE: CRR ) fit the bill? Let’s take a look at what its recent results tell us about its potential for....More>>>

LONDON — The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE ) isn’t moving much today, up just 0.3% shortly after 8 a.m EDT — so it looks like yesterday’s fall of 60 points has shaken out fears raised by the recent pessimism coming from China, at least for now. And the recent slide in mining shares has tailed off, with the larger sector plays all picking up a few pence this morning.

They say it’s darkest just before dawn. If that’s true for stocks – and it usually is – the now may be the time to wade into CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ:CYTR).

If you’re reading this, then odds are you’re already aware that CYTR has been on a roller coaster ride over the past six months, from a low of $2.19 in December to a high of $8.35 in January back....More>>>

Gold is the most well-known commodity, and it unfortunately hinges on the Federal Reserve’s controversial quantitative-easing program, which could be tapered in the near future. In her confirmation before the Senate banking committee, Janet Yellen, nominee for the Federal Reserve chair, voiced strong support and defense for the continuation of massive bond-buying stimulus.

Although Small cap Synacor Inc (NASDAQ: SYNC) calls itself the place “where Tech, Hollywood and Madison Avenue meet in the cloud,” its not exactly been a blockbuster for investors – meanings its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of potential benchmarks like the First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index (NASDAQ: SKYY), iShares North American Tech-Software....More>>>

Chicago is a great city, a peculiarly American city. Carl Sandburg’s City of Broad Shoulders, it is the old and the new Mayor Daley, Studs Terkel and Mike Royko. It is an architect’s city, big, friendly and Midwestern.

But even long after Al Capone was taken down over taxes, Chicago seems to grow tax scams. At least that’s one conclusion to draw from several recent court battles....More>>>

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool’s free investing community, engineering and construction company McDermott International (NYSE: MDR ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at McDermott and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right....More>>>

LONDON — Before I decide whether to buy a company’s shares, I always like to look at two core financial ratios — return on equity and net gearing.

These two ratios provide an indication of how successful a company is at generating profits using shareholders’ funds and debt, and they have a strong influence on dividend payments and share price growth.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — A number of warning signals are flashing in the stock market, and while not indicative of an imminent crash, they’re telling investors to exercise caution, say market strategists.

Stocks finished higher last week, ending on a choppy Friday highlighted by the release of a better-than-expected job....More>>>

Canadian software and security giant BlackBerry (BBRY) reported its fiscal 2015 third quarter numbers recently. Despite a positive bottom-line, the stock took a beating as revenues were in red and shares dropped by more than 5%. For the three months period the company reported net revenues of $793 million, down by a flabbergasting 33% from prior year period’s $1.19 billion. Even the bottom....More>>>

Moneyshow’s Jim Jubak discusses what he sees as the stock market’s current problem and what this may mean once the summer is over.

You could argue that well, a little complacency never hurt anybody. Tell that to the Trojans. The problem right now in the stock market as I see it is that the VIX, which is a measure of how much traders are willing to pay to get rid....More>>>

Getty Images NEW YORK — Applications for U.S. home mortgages rose in the latest week, an industry group said Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, rose 4.7 percent to 404.1 in the week ended Jan. 17. The index hit its lowest level since December 2000 at the....More>>>

Tesla (TSLA) reported a wider than expected loss Wednesday after the bell, the biggest in the companys history. Teslas net loss for the quarter amounted to roughly $718 million, a considerable $4.22 cents a share.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE: PAG) is one of 20 publicly-traded companies in the “Automotive dealers & gasoline service stations” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Penske Automotive Group to similar companies based on the strength of its earnings, v

Red Rock Resorts Inc (NASDAQ:RRR) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 1,886 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,036% compared to the average volume of 166 put options.